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Parenting Style and Children’s Life Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms: Preliminary Findings from Romania, France, and Russia

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Abstract

This study evaluated how culture relates to parenting and children’s life satisfaction and depressive symptoms, and whether there are cultural differences in how maternal parenting style relates to children’s adjustment among three cultural contexts: Romanian, Russian, and French. The sample included 325 children, aged 9–11 years, from Romania (n = 123), Russia (n = 112), and France (n = 90). Children completed questionnaires regarding their perceptions of maternal parenting style, and their life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. French children reported lower levels of authoritative parenting style and higher levels of authoritarian parenting style compared to their Romanian and Russian peers. Further, French children reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than both their Romanian and Russian peers, while Russian children had higher life satisfaction than their Romanian and French peers. The strengths of the associations between parenting style and both children’s life satisfaction and depressive symptoms, however, did not differ based on children’s cultural context. Our findings suggest the importance of cultural context in relation to parenting styles and children’s life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Further, our study shows that the relations between parenting and children’s adjustment are similar across the cultural contexts included in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 3 Toma Cozma, 700554, Iasi, Romania

    Loredana R. Gherasim & Cristina L. Alim

  2. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, USA

    Laura E. Brumariu

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  1. Loredana R. Gherasim
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Gherasim, L.R., Brumariu, L.E. & Alim, C.L. Parenting Style and Children’s Life Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms: Preliminary Findings from Romania, France, and Russia. J Happiness Stud 18, 1013–1028 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9754-9

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